William Shatner

An excerpt from the July 14, 2004 edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer, an article 'Busy Shatner has The End on his mind' by Gail Shister:

"There's a sense of not being fulfilled. . . . I don't know what it is. It bothers me, because I'm approaching the end of my life, and I'm trying to do better and better at whatever it is I'm doing."

The death of legendary actor Marlon Brando at age 80 on July 1 hit Shatner hard, even though the two had never met. "He lived not far from me, up on the hill. His death is the end of an era, and my era is closing in on me.

"I'm so not ready to die. It petrifies me. I go alone. I go to a place I don't know. It might be painful. It might be the end. My thought is that it is the end. I become nameless, and I spent a lifetime being known."

In a March 9, 2006 Associated Press story by David Germain headlined "Shatner Explores World of 'Trek' Tech," Shatner says:

"I've always had sort of an ironic view of life," the 75-year-old Shatner said. "My belief system is that when this is over, it's over. That you don't look down from heaven and wait for your loved ones to join you. There may be some soul activity, but I'm not sure about that. But what I am sure about is that your molecules continue and in due time become something else. That's science."

In a 1968 interview, Shatner said, in response to a question about whether he has religious beliefs or believes in an afterlife:

"No. I don't. Emotionally I would like to believe there is a life after death. Intellectually . . . . I cannot accept the idea. . . . as for myself, I have finally come to the conclusion that life is here and now . . . and nothing more."